Explore the Family Name Rizza

The meaning of Rizza

Italian (Sicily and Calabria): from rizza, a southern feminine form of riccio ‘curly-headed’. Compare Ricci. Some characteristic forenames: Italian Angelo, Salvatore, Antonio, Roberto, Alberto, Aldo, Alessandro, Benito, Concetta, Domenic, Enrico, Gaetano, Gino, Gulio, Luciana, Nino.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Rizza in the United States?

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Rizza saw a slight decline in rank from 25,484 in 2000 to 25,701 in 2010, representing a decrease of 0.85%. However, the count of individuals bearing the Rizza surname rose by 5.27% over the same period, from 911 in 2000 to 959 in 2010. The proportion of this surname per 100k people also slightly decreased by 2.94%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#25,484	#25,701	-0.85%
Count	911	959	5.27%
Proportion per 100k	0.34	0.33	-2.94%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Rizza

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some shifts between 2000 and 2010. For those with the surname Rizza, the percentage identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander increased significantly from 0.55% to 0.94%, reflecting a 70.91% change. Similarly, there was an increase among those identifying as Hispanic, from 2.31% to 3.86%, a 67.10% rise. By contrast, those identifying as White saw a slight decrease, from 95.17% to 93.64%, a 1.61% decrease. The percentage identifying as being of two or more races also saw a decrease from 1.43% to 1.25%, a 12.59% decrease. There were no individuals who identified as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.17%	93.64%	-1.61%
Hispanic	2.31%	3.86%	67.1%
Two or More Races	1.43%	1.25%	-12.59%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.55%	0.94%	70.91%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%